Monkey
Master Monkey is one of the supporting characters of the Kung Fu Panda franchise. He is a member of the Furious Five as well as one of Master Shifu's students at the Jade Palace. He is a master of the Monkey Style of kung fu. In his youth, Monkey was known as a thief and prankster who made a fool of anyone called to get rid of him—until Master Oogway arrived. After he lost a battle against the old master, Monkey was convinced by Oogway to find a new purpose: to use his skills for good. Monkey later came to form the Furious Five with Tigress, Mantis, Viper, and Crane. When first meeting Po, he was skeptical of the panda being the Dragon Warrior, but quickly came to appreciate his determination and sense of humor. He now fights alongside Po as a friend and fellow warrior. Biography Early years Monkey and his older brother Wu Kong used to play tricks on other people as children. But Wu Kong eventually turned to crime and was sent to prison, causing his family to be shamed. Years later, Monkey battled Wu Kong when he escaped. Their mother saw them fighting, and she died of a broken heart. Before she passed away, however, she made Monkey swear to always protect his family. In Secrets of the Furious Five Monkey was the laughingstock in his hometown villagewhen he accidentally slipped on banana peel and his pants fell in public. As he grew older, he sought revenge for this incident by earning himself the title of the trouble-making hooligan in his village, playing tricks on the townspeople (often making people slip on banana peels or "pantsing" them) and made the habit of stealing from the markets. The townspeople didn't want him around anymore and told him to leave, but he refused. They sent many powerful warriors to force him out of town, but Monkey humiliated each and every one of them with his "pantsing" maneuvers. He finally faced defeat when the townspeople sent Master Oogway, who, other than not wearing pants, used his shell to dodge all of Monkey's attacks. Not expecting him to dodge so easily, Monkey slipped underneath a falling beam, only to be saved by Oogway. Humiliated in front of the whole town by the kung fu master and his own tricks, Monkey surrendered and agreed to leave. But Oogway instead encouraged him to stay, teaching him compassion which then turned Monkey into a hero who helped and defended the people of the village. In Secrets of the Scroll Monkey would later try his hand at stand-up comedy, but would find no one who shared his sense of humor. It was during this attempted career that he would be found by Tigress, who mistook him for a Kung fu master sought by Shifu after a scroll given her by Shifu was accidentally switched for one listing possible career choices of Po's, one of them being "comedian." Along with Crane, Viper, and Mantis, Monkey would be presented to the ill Shifu by Tigress, only to be turned away. Despite this, he and the others joined their newfound friend in facing the menace known as Boar, whom they defeated by working together. Afterwards, Shifu welcomed them all as his pupils and set to work honing their individual styles of Kung fu. In Kung Fu Panda Monkey was first seen training with Master Shifu, along with the rest of the Furious Five, in the Training Hall's courtyard, where Shifu told him to improve on his speed. After Master Oogway envisioned Tai Lung breaking out of prison, Monkey later partook in the Dragon Warrior Tournament at the Jade Palace, though his singular performance was not seen. When Oogway sensed that the Dragon Warriorwas among them, Monkey gathered along with his fellow team members for the choosing of the warrior. Just as it seemed that Tigress would be chosen, Monkey and everyone else were stunned when a giant panda by the name of Po fell out of the sky and landed right in front of her. Oogway saw this as a sign and declared Po as the Dragon Warrior, leaving Monkey, the Five, Shifu, the villagers, and Po himself astonished. After the tournament, Monkey and the others of the Five went over to the Training Hall to train. It was here that Po eventually entered the hall as well (with Shifu accompanying him) to see the Five training with the various contraptions, Monkey with the Seven-Talon Rings. He and the Five stopped their training to watch Po spar with the Adversary, who then got thrown into the course and failed every stage. That night, Monkey joined the Five in mocking Po as they headed for the student barracks, unaware that the panda had heard every word and was disheartened. In the barracks, when Po was having an awkward conversation with Crane, he attempted to imitate some kung fu moves, only to create a hole in the paper wall separating Crane and Monkey's rooms, where Monkey was seen clearly scowling after having been disturbed from his meditation. The next morning, it appeared that Po had quit when his bedroom was found empty. However, when the Five and Shifu arrived at the training courtyard, it was revealed that Po had gotten there first and was even attempting to use the apparatus designed for honing flexibility. When the panda's training began, Monkey was the second kung fu master to spar with him, catching him off guard and beating him over the head with his staff. When Shifu sparred with Po himself, and then literally kicked him out of the palace and down the stairs in frustration, Monkey and the Five watched him tumble down. Tigress, who had contempt for the panda, stated that "if was smart, he won't come back up those steps." Monkey, however, was the first to note Po's tenacity and implied that he would be back. Back in the student barracks, Po was unsuccessfully being administered acupuncture by Mantis andViper, and Monkey was seen trying to ignore Po's yelps while meditating in his room. He then later listened in with Crane silently as Tigress told Po the history between Shifu and Tai Lung. In the kitchen later that same night, Monkey and the Five (sans Tigress) began to warm up to Po some more after enjoying a bowl of his delicious noodle soup. Monkey and the Five (again sans Tigress) also began laughing when Po ate his soup and ended up having a noodle string on his lip resembling Shifu's mustache, and Monkey responded the greatest when Po began making amusing impressions of the old master. Their enjoyment was cut short when the real Shifu arrived with some bad news: Tai Lung had just escaped from prison, and Oogway was dead. Tigress pleaded with Shifu to let her and the rest of the Five go and stop Tai Lung, but Shifu refused, finally believing that Po was the Dragon Warrior. After it soon became clear that neither Po nor Shifu had any idea how Po would be able to defeat the snow leopard, Tigress decided to go anyway alone, though she was soon pursued by Monkey and the rest of the Five. When Viper stated that they were not trying to stop Tigress, but were coming with her, Monkey gave their team leader the "thumbs-up" in agreement. After days of travel, Monkey and the Five eventually intercepted Tai Lung at the Thread of Hope, an enormous rope bridge above a bottomless chasm outside the Valley of Peace. Monkey assisted in battleby rescuing Viper after Tai Lung caught her by the throat, and then beat him back along with the rest of the Five. Just when it seemed like they had won, Tai Lung took them by surprise when he soon recovered and struck Monkey with a nerve attack, paralyzing him instantly. Tai Lung proceeded to paralyze the rest of the Five except Crane, who was forced to carry his defeated comrades back to the palace as a message to Shifu and the Dragon Warrior. Crane managed to carry Monkey and the rest of the Five back to the Jade Palace, where Shifu quickly freed them from paralysis and decided that Po was ready to receive the Dragon Scroll, having succeeded in training him while the Five where absent. Monkey was present when Po opened the scroll, and was surprised along with everyone else when the scroll, the secret to limitless power, was revealed to be blank. As a last resort, Shifu ordered the Five and Po to evacuate the Valley while Shifu stalled Tai Lung in a battle, which he and everyone else knew would inevitably cost him his life. Shifu and his students gave each one last respectful bow before departing. During the evacuation, Monkey helped a young child find their mother. Later, just as they were all leaving the Valley, Monkey, his comrades and the villagers were surprised to see a rippling explosion in the village. The Five and the villagers returned to investigate and found that Po had succeeded where the Five had failed: hedefeated Tai Lung. Amazed at the panda's skill, Tigress led Monkey, the rest of the Five, and the villagers in a respectful bow to Po as a kung fu master. In Kung Fu Panda Holiday In the holiday special, Monkey and the rest of the Furious Five were surprised to hear that Po was to host the sophisticated Winter Feast at the Jade Palace. Later, when Po was to select a chef for the event, Monkey waved a greeting to him and Po waved back, unintentionally dismissing a chef namedWo Hop with the gesture, which had disgracing him and his village. The Five were later called upon by Po to help prepare for the Feast, and Monkey used his swift kung fu moves to arrange place settings for the dinner. When completed, he was seen seated with the rest of the kung fu masters at the table. When Po talked about his own family traditions and mentioned his uncle Yang's tendency to spurt noodles out of his nose from laughing so hard, Monkey agreed with Crane about wanting to see that himself. After Po left the feast, the Furious Five later joined him at the Noodle Shopand enjoyed the holiday-themed soup, and the other masters from the Palace eventually arrived at the celebration as well. Sure enough, Monkey and Crane got a chance to see Uncle Yang's habit, and Monkey joined the rest of the Five, Po, Shifu, and Wo Hop in posing for a portrait. In Art of Balance "Art of Balance" Monkey appeared at the start in Po 's dream as he and the rest of the Furious Five faced a large number of villains, though the heroic moment was ruined when Po fell on top of them. Monkey was last seen battling the villains before Po woke up from his dream. "The Dragon Chef" Monkey was enlisted along with the rest of the Furious Five to help at the Noodle Shop as Mr. Ping was suffering from the Goose flu. He helped by passing out noodles while being carried and flown around byCrane. However, this method led to soup getting all over the customers, and the day was disastrous. Fortunately, Mr. Ping returned, having recovered, and set things right in a matter of minutes. Impressed, Monkey and the others praised him as the Dragon Chef. "Touch of Destiny" During a game of elimination tag with Po and the rest of the Furious Five, Monkey tagged Viper by swinging from a tree and taking her by surprise. However, he later discovered Mantis on his back and was also tagged. Later on, after Tigress won the game, Monkey and the Five reappeared and Po asked them if they wanted to play another game. In Legends of Awesomeness Monkey was eventually forced to contend with his past when Wu Kong began terrorizing the Valley of Peace, with Monkey taking the blame for his crimes due to the evidence implicating a monkey thief that Wu Kong left behind. Though aware of Wu Kong's actions, Monkey felt bound to protect his brother due to the promise he had made to their mother, and thus refused to reveal the truth. However, when Po discovered Wu Kong and was then to be left for dead, Monkey realized that he could not stand idly by while his brother acted in evil, and fought Wu Kong to save Po. Wu Kong then surprised the pair by admitting his guilt, but then reverted to his usual nature by fleeing justice. In Kung Fu Panda 2 Like the rest of the Five, Monkey was first seen cheering on Po, who was trying to fit forty bean buns in his mouth. When Crane slapped Po on the back in congratulations, Monkey was knocked backwards by a multitude of buns. Later that day, he helped fight off wolf bandits in the Artisan Village, and later helped Po save a pig from falling to his death. When the lead wolf attempted one last assault on Po, Monkey was as surprised as the others when Po froze. After the wolf hit Po in the face with his hammer and fled, Monkey, like the others, was curious as to why Po hesitated. Some time later, Monkey and his friends learned some sinister news: Master Thundering Rhino has been killed in Gongmen City by a peacock called Lord Shen, and a mysterious weapon which could destroy even kung fu. As the Five and Po left for Gongmen City to combat this threat, the six of them were stopped by Mr. Ping, who had packed things for Po. Monkey laughed when Mr. Ping told (and showed) Po that he had packed Po's action figures. During the last part of their journey by boat, Monkey and his friends were awoken when they overheard Po and Tigress talking outside the cabin, and stepped outside to give Po emotional support. Their conversation was cut short, however, when they arrived in Gongmen City. Monkey and his friends attempted to sneak through the city towards Shen's palace by traveling across the rooftops. After a while, they realized that Po was missing, and then were gobsmacked when they spotted the panda attempted to sneak through the streets in a dragon costume. The Five stealthily joined Po inside the costume: Monkey was the first inside, and was accidentally slapped by a startled Po. They soon learned from a sheep they had rescued that Masters Storming Ox and Croc, two kung fu masters who had witnessed Thundering Rhino's death, were still alive and imprisoned in Gongmen Jail. The six were soon spotted by Boss Wolf and his pack, but were able to escape and reach the jail. When the Five and Po snuck into Gongmen Jail, Monkey volunteered to be on watch for any enemies, and he'd alert them with "crane noises" (which was "Ka-kaw, ki-ki!"), much to Crane's indignation. After three wolves (including Boss Wolf) discovered them (with Monkey giving the signal after they had entered), Monkey and Crane defeated two of the wolves and Boss Wolf fled. The six of them then raced after Boss Wolf through Gongmen City until they were surrounded by an army outside thepalace. Po finally surrendered on behalf of the group, much to everybody else's confusion. The Five and Po were placed in cuffs and led into the palace, where they were placed before Lord Shen himself. After some back and forth banter between Po and Shen, Shen attempted to fire his cannon at the six, but the fuse was put out each time the wolf tried to light it. It was then revealed that Po had placed his Mantis action figure in the cage in place of the real Mantis, and Mantis was the one that kept dousing the fuse. Viper successfully picked the lock on Tigress' cuffs, and then Tigress proceeded to free the others before they destroyed Shen's cannon. Everything went awry, however, when Po froze once again when facing Shen, and the peacock was able to escape the tower. Monkey and the others stared after him, and were horrified to see that he had a multitude of cannons which he proceeded to fire at the tower. Thanks to Tigress' quick thinking, the Five and Po were able to escape and disappear into the city. Back in Gongmen Jail, Monkey and the others confronted Po over letting Shen get away. When Po refused to tell the truth, Tigress ordered that he stay behind while the Five go after Shen. Po attempted to leave the jail, and Monkey and the others watched in fear as he and Tigress fought. Po was swiftly subdued and finally revealed that Shen knew what had happened to his parents, and then claimed that the "hardcore" (meaning Tigress) couldn't understand. Tigress lunged at Po, seemingly angered. Expecting Tigress to attack Po further, Monkey and the others got a shock when she hugged him instead. However, Tigress made it clear that she did understand and did not want Po to get himself killed, and the Five left without him. When Crane tried to take advantage of Tigress' empathetic moment by asking if she did not want him to get killed and she told him to stop being a wimp, Monkey commented that "she's back." The Five followed Shen to the Fireworks Factory, quickly plotting to destroy the building and the arsenal of cannons inside by blowing it up with nearby kegs of gunpowder, which they'll roll inside with a wheelbarrow. The Five had done so and had turned to leave before they caught a glimpse of Po battling Shen high up on a ledge. They quickly doused the fuses and were set upon by dozens of wolves. During their struggle, the Five heard a cannon fire above them, and watched in horror as Po was blasted out of the factory seemingly to his death. Monkey and the rest of the Furious Five were then captured by Shen. The night after the factory battle, Monkey was the first to try to rally the Five after Po's apparent death while the group was chained up, heading for execution as Shen and his armada make their way out of the city. He turned to Tigress for some support, only to see that she had lost all hope. However, Po returned alive, and while fighting Shen's army, Po tossed up an axe which Monkey grabbed with his tail and broke the chains with. They battled against Shen's army, and were soon joined by Master Shifu, who had arrived from the Valley of Peace, as well as Masters Ox and Croc. Monkey and the other kung fu masters almost won, but were blasted into the Gongmen Harbor by Shen's cannon, leaving them all badly injured. Monkey watched, along with everybody else, watched in shock as Po stood on an upturned boat in the middle of the harbor, and deflected all of Shen's cannonballs. By the time Shen was killed, Monkey was up on dry land along with the rest of the Five. And when Po emerged out of the water, Monkey was one of the first to hug Po, along with Mantis and Viper. Monkey then happily watched the fireworks along with all of his friends. In Kung Fu Panda 3 In the Chinese trailer of the film, Monkey was shown gathered with the rest of the Five, who all seemed alarmed. He and the rest of the team was also shown consulting a scroll with Shifu, and Monkey was among some of the Five that were seen fighting statue-like warriors on the rooftops of a village. In the English teaser trailer, Monkey was shown partaking in an exercise with Po and the other members of the Five, contributing his skill to transport a cup of tea to Shifu through the obstacles in theTraining Hall. Monkey joins Po and the other member of the Furious Five in visiting the noodle shop for lunch just prior to being informed that Po will oversee the Five's training from now on. When Kai launches his first attack on the valley, Monkey and Po both hit upon the name "Jombies"-Jade zombies-for his minions at the same time. He then remained in the valley while Po left with his father Li Shan to visit the Panda village and while Crane and Mantis left to track Kai to his lair. Unfortunately, the latter pair were captured by Kai and became another pair of Jombies, who assisted Kai in capturing Monkey and Viper when he attacked the valley in person. Monkey's Jombie then fought as part of Kai's army in the attack on the Panda village, before eventually being freed after Po mastered his Chi and defeated the evil Spirit Warrior. Monkey, the Pandas, the villagers, and the other Masters then joined in a massive group training session to learn to harness the power of Chi. Personality While going by Shifu's strict teachings, it would appear that Monkey in general has taken Oogway's teachings more to heart, being similarly relaxed and displaying a calmer side to his personality. He is also sort of a romantic; In Legends of Awesomeness, Po says that love songs make Monkey cry and Monkey said how he, when he was younger, tried to get the attention the girls only to have them fawn over his brother, Wu Kong. Monkey was the first of the Five to recognize Po's determination, even though he shared in the Five's general decision of the panda until Po proved himself to be the Dragon Warrior. He's also the first of the Five to have called Po by name. Monkey seems to harbor the strongest sense of humor within the Five, responding most strongly to Po's sense of comedy. Fighting style A bunch of Monkey's attacks involve his opponent's pants. For instance, in Secrets of the Furious Five, Monkey pantsed several warriors, embarrassing them enough to make them quit. Also, in Monkey in the Middle, Monkey gave Po a wedgie. Finally, in Secret Admirer, Po tried to rip off Monkey's pants with a branch, but Monkey redirected it back on Po by using his tail to move the branch into Po's pants. On Sora's Team see TigressCategory:Kung Fu Panda characters Category:Heroes Category:Sora's Team Category:Dreamworks characters Category:Nickelodeon characters Category:Characters Category:Males Category:Non-Disney characters Category:Protagonists Category:Adults Category:Reformed characters Category:Siblings Category:Warriors Category:Comedy characters Category:Fun-Loving characters